


Bite Me

by Ellstra



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Meet-Cute, Misunderstandings, Sort Of, lots of bickering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 17:43:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21058418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellstra/pseuds/Ellstra
Summary: On his way home from work, Hux runs into a stranger. He breaks several of his personal rules when he takes the man home. It might end up very ugly – or not.





	Bite Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kalika_999](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalika_999/gifts).

> This fic was written for the Fandom Trumps Hate event.

Hux fumbled in his bag for his sunglasses. The sun was too bright and his eyes were already abused enough after his long workday in front of a computer. The subway he usually took was out of order for three months and he would rather die than take the old battered bus that went instead of it, which left him with no other opportunity than walking the three stops until he reached the other line. His messenger bag was too heavy, bruising his shoulder and hurting his back but someone of his position couldn’t be seen with a backpack. Hux was convinced, unironically, that the entire world was out to get him, and he was also certain that he was not so much of a bad person to deserve it, which made everything all the more frustrating. 

The street was moderately busy, mostly with teenagers wandering around without a direction or purpose, smoking and shouting obscenities at each other. Hux had turned 34 two months ago but in moments like these, he felt at least seventy, the embodiment of the ‘angry old man yelling at clouds’ meme, yet felt little obligation to change his attitude. The truth was that he was jealous of them, of their carelessness, but there was too much emotional baggage to him admitting that, and he simply didn’t have the time to address it. 

Preoccupied with avoiding the tufts of cigarette smoke, Hux pushed forward without looking much around himself. The moment he saw the guy running against him, they both had too much momentum to avoid collision. Hux’s forehead crashed into something hard and pointy, his hands into a muscular stomach. He opened his mouth to apologize but the words never came, his breath knocked out of him when the guy sneaked an arm around his neck, turned him around and held him flush with his own body. Hux had lost his balance, completely at the mercy of the man. 

“Let me go!” Hux demanded, in the spirit of the theory that offence is the best defense.

“Sorry,” the guy said and brought Hux back into a proper upright position before letting go of him, “you startled me.”

“ _ I  _ startled  _ you?!” _ Hux hissed and turned around to face him. People around them were watching them with the mix of blatant curiosity and desire to be invisible so typical for bystanders of conflicts or accidents.

“Well you did crash into me,” the guy pointed out, “and nearly knocked my teeth out.”

“And the appropriate reaction in such a situation is to grab me into a headlock?” 

“That wasn’t a headlock,” the guy said.

“What?”

“That wasn’t a headlock,” he repeated, “and I already said I was sorry. I don’t know what you want from me.”

“What I want–” Hux trailed off, taken aback. What  _ did  _ he want, exactly? The crowd around them was thinning a little now that it seemed that there wouldn’t be any fight. 

“You should look where you’re going,” Hux said at last. 

“Obviously,” the man nodded. It infuriated Hux even further; this guy had the audacity to act like Hux was a child learning an important lesson, and he a patient parent guiding the child to such realization. He had no right to do that, a snotty teenager too reckless to look where he was running. 

Except he wasn’t a teenager. Hux looked at him properly for the first time, and he realized he was glad the man didn’t try to fight him for real, not only because he apparently knew how to throw a punch, but also because he seemed to weigh twice Hux’s own weight, in pure muscles. 

“Do you always headlock people who crash into you?” Hux asked, wanting to say something but not knowing what. 

“I said you startled me. People who usually crash into me are not tall enough to knock my teeth out,” he said. People were trickling around them, avoiding them like a rapid stream avoids a tree in the middle of the bed. 

“Thank you?” Hux said, raising one eyebrow. 

“They’re also not half as fierce,” the guy added, “you’ve got quite the nerve, picking up a fight with me.”

“Why, because you’re the size of a fridge?” Hux puffed up, offended. He tried to convince himself that he wasn’t impressed by the guy’s size. He failed, rather spectacularly.

“Well, yes, that’s one reason,” the guy shrugged, apparently very well aware of the effect he had on people, “and because I’ve just shown you that I am trained in martial arts. That combination tends to deter people.”

“I’m not ‘people’” Hux muttered. The guy had the audacity to laugh. Hux considered elbowing him in the ribs or kicking him in the balls.

“Forgive me, I didn’t know I was talking to an extraterrestrial ambassador. Allow me to apologize for my behaviour with a coffee,” the stranger said. 

“I don’t drink coffee,” Hux replied automatically, before he had the chance to think his answer through. Then he realised what his response must have sounded like. He could see in the other man’s face that it did. He hastened to soften the blow: “But you can invite me for a tea.”

“I expect you to tell me everything about your home planet,” the guy said, “I’m Kylo, by the way.”

“Hux,” Hux said and offered his hand for a handshake. Kylo looked at it and took it a second later, as if unsure what to do in such a situation.  _ And you say I’m the alien,  _ Hux thought. 

“Nice to meet you,” Kylo said. His hand was enormous and warm, his palm slightly rough with a few calluses, his handshake firm but gentle. Hux’s opinion of him improved greatly – he could appreciate a good handshake. 

“Likewise,” Hux said, “May I lead you to my favourite tea room? It’s not far from here and it shouldn’t be full of stoned students just yet.”

“Lead the way,” Kylo replied and supported his answer with a motion of his hand, “unless you mean  _ Passed Time? _ ”

“I do. You know the place?” 

“Yes,” Kylo smiled, “I was a stoned student there not so long ago.”

“Well,” Hux breathed out, unsure what to say. “I hope you’re not a stoned student anymore.”

“Definitely not a student,” Kylo said, in a voice that implied that he omitted the other half of the statement for a reason.

“What did you study, if you don’t mind me asking?” Hux asked out of obligation, yet realised, to his surprise, that he was genuinely curious about the answer. They took a right turn back into the bustling centre. The air shimmered above the asphalt and Hux could feel sweat run down his back. The people around him were red in the faces, their heads bowed as if it could shield them from the heat. Kylo on the other hand seemed completely unbothered by both the heat and the sun. 

“Philosophy,” Kylo replied. Hux must have made a face, because Kylo shook his head and chuckled. “Yeah, I know. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I inherited quite a lot of money from my estranged grandfather who died before I was even born. I couldn’t spend it on anything but education, and I wanted to spite my parents, so I took this money they didn’t want me to take and enrolled to the least appropriate school I could think of.”

“That sounds very mature,” Hux said.

“Yeah, apparently being a child prodigy doesn’t mean you can’t be stupid,” Kylo shrugged, “it allowed me to move away from my family and realise what I want from life.”

“I suppose it should.”

“Not the school, god forbid, that was full of narcissistic old shitbags who refused to hold any sort of conversation, as if that wasn’t the point of philosophy,” Kylo said. They had reached the inner city center paved with cobblestones. Hux’s dress shoes clicked loudly on the hot stone and he realised only then that he couldn’t hear Kylo’s footsteps. Kylo wore sandals which were really just a piece of rubber held to his feet with a string. He moved swiftly, his feet barely touching the ground, more graceful than Hux would imagine someone of his build to be. 

“I guess you didn’t stay there to continue your studies,” Hux said and put his messenger bag on his other shoulder. His back was cursing him rather loudly now but he rolled his shoulders back and went on.

“No. I didn’t even finish the school,” Kylo replied, “I wasn’t willing to invest my time and energy into writing a thesis. I took the first job I could find and have been surviving like this ever since.”

“So what do you do now?” Hux asked, utterly fascinated. Kylo had a special sort of aura around him, he carried himself like he was brought up to believe he was royalty and didn’t quite shake all the mannerisms, and something about him commanded respect. 

“I’m being interrogated by a very insistent stranger,” Kylo replied.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” Hux mumbled, bowing his head.

“It’s alright, I am not very good at keeping my mouth shut, and I don’t mind telling you. It’s just that this conversation felt rather one-sided,” Kylo said with a smile, “I know I tend to dominate dialogues.”

“I have to talk all day at work, so it’s nice to listen to someone for once.”

“If you say so,” Kylo said. 

“I do,” Hux assured him, “I don’t tend to be nice just for the sake of it.”

Kylo chuckled. Hux wondered if he was too forthcoming. 

“No, you’re only nice to people who crash into you on the street,” Kylo pointed out. 

“I’m erratic like that.”

They reached their destination and Kylo opened the door and let Hux go in first. The inside of the tearoom was warm and fragrant. Hux had never tried smoking shisha and had no desire to do so, but he liked the smell of it. His mind connected it with peace of mind and moments of stolen happiness in the chaos of everyday life. When his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he made his way to his favourite spot. Kylo followed him without protest, but Hux remembered his manners and turned to him.

“Shall we sit here?” he asked, pointing to a low table lined with two long pillows. 

“Sure,” Kylo nodded, taking off his shoes already. 

Hux lay his bag down with a relieved sigh, took off his jacket and hung it on the coat rack on the wall, and finally his shoes. Kylo was already sitting on the cushion, incredibly long legs crossed. Hux noticed a tattoo on his calf as he sat down on the other side of the table. 

“I love this place,” Kylo said, “it’s such an oasis. It feels like time doesn’t pass the same way here as it does outside.”

“Mh-hmm,” Hux agreed, leafing through the menu. Choosing his tea was a ritual with strict rules – he would briefly overlook everything on offer only to settle, just like always, on the bitter Tarine tea they still offered after all these years even though the staff often said Hux was the only one who ordered it more than once. No other place could make it quite as good. Kylo didn’t say anything else. Hux briefly turned over the last two pages and laid the menu back on the table.

“Ready to order?” Kylo asked. 

“Yes,” Hux nodded, “you? I didn’t see you look at the menu.” 

“I always get Chai Latte,” Kylo shrugged.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I have a terrible sweet tooth.”

“You don’t look like it,” Hux said. Kylo wore a loose grey tank top and the armholes revealed a big portion of his chest. Everything about him was muscular and strong and perfectly sculpted, with no space for transgressions like Chai Lattes.

“I have good metabolism and a crazy workout routine.”

“Obviously,” Hux blurted out before he could catch himself. Kylo grinned, knowing, a  _ Gotcha!  _ sort of smile, like people often acted like that around him and it pleased him.

It was Hux’s turn to say something about himself and he ended up revealing more than even most of his longtime friends knew. Kylo was as eager to gather some intel on Hux as he was to share on himself, and his charisma and slightly intimidating demeanor turned out to be very effective. 

When he excused himself to go to the bathroom, Hux stretched his back and arms and his watch glinted slightly in the light. He checked the time and his eyes went wild. Somehow, they had been sitting there for nearly three hours. Hux should have known by the amount of tea they’d drunk, but he had assumed he was thirsty because of the heat. Kylo had tried Hux’s Tarine tea, after much persuasion, and the look on his face was the most hilarious thing Hux had seen in days. 

Kylo’s hair looked different when he came back, like he’d run a wet hand through it a couple times to make it seem more tousled. Hux wished it had been his hand to do that. Kylo’s hair looked luxurious and soft, and he obviously knew it. Hux looked him up and down without bothering to hide his appreciation. Kylo slid down on the pillow again, downed his tea and turned to Hux.

“Do you want to order something else, or shall we move this somewhere else? I have some beer at home,” he suggested. 

Hux would be lying if he said he hadn’t entertained the idea of taking ‘this’ somewhere else. It’s just that in his mind, somewhere else had been his place. This seemed really crazy already – Hux had had some one night stands and they were all embarrassing more than anything else, and neither of his dates looked as… dangerous, for lack of a better word, as Kylo. Hux didn’t want to judge Kylo by his appearance, but that same dark aura that made him so attractive was incidentally also the thing that kept the last bits of Hux’s restraint alive.

“I don’t know, I have a presentation at work tomorrow…” Hux replied. His resolve was wavering already as he said it. He wanted to go to Kylo’s.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to be too forward,” Kylo exclaimed.

“You’re not too forward,” Hux assured him.

“I’m not?”

“No,” Hux shook his head and reached over the low table between them to caress Kylo’s thigh, “But I really need to sleep at home tonight. I absolutely cannot turn up at work wearing yesterday’s clothes and bed hair. I have terrible bed hair.”

“I bet you look gorgeous with bed hair,” Kylo protested.

“You may think so, but my boss certainly wouldn’t. Or the investors.”

“You don’t have to sleep over,” Kylo pointed out. Hux knew that of course. But the thought of going home after dark, sweaty and dirty and smelling of sex, was just as unappealing as going to work in such state. Maybe more.

Kylo was watching him, big brown eyes pleading, innocent and seductive at the same time. Hux wondered what kind of a kisser Kylo was. 

He realised he wasn’t debating whether he wanted to sleep with Kylo anymore – his mind was going through a list of contingency plans.

“Or we could go to my place,” he said at last. 

“That would definitely be better,” Kylo nodded eagerly, “I didn’t want to invite myself to your place but I was a little worried you might say yes and then leave once you see the state of my apartment, that would be so embarrassing.”

“Alright, that sounds ominous,” Hux said, “let’s go.”

Kylo insisted on paying for both of them, saying that he had invited Hux to the tearoom in the first place, for bumping into him. It seemed ages ago to Hux. They walked side by side, never touching each other. There weren’t many people on the subway and for once Hux was annoyed by it, because he didn’t have a valid reason to press himself against Kylo, other than that he really, really wanted to. 

“This is a very fancy neighbourhood,” Kylo pointed out when they walked down the street. It  _ was _ a fancy neighbourhood – Hux had decided he would once live in a street like this the second he left his father’s house to live in a shitty shared dorm room, and he worked his ass off for years, staying in said dorm long after his college roommates had moved on, until finally,  _ finally,  _ he had saved enough to buy his flat. It was too big for just one person, and he loved every square inch of the exorbitance. 

He didn’t tell Kylo that.

“It’s respectable. We actually have a neighbourhood watch,” he said instead, “though what they’re watching for is beyond me.”

Actually, that was only partially true. Hux was pretty sure the Neighbourhood Watch, presided by Mrs Woods from two doors down the street, was on the lookout for people exactly like Kylo – unhinged, with unfinished tertiary education, tattooed. Queer. 

The flat really was nearly perfect, but the neighbours were the “I have nothing against homosexuals, I just don’t want my kids to see it” kind of homophobic. It didn’t bother Hux much, because his love life was extremely pitiful and therefore didn’t warrant any form of admonition thrown in his direction, but he did secretly dream of having really loud sex, of parading a very obviously gay man through the hall and, if he was feeling extra vengeful, of having sex right there, in the open, where everyone and their five-thousand-dollar Pomeranian could see. 

He didn’t tell Kylo that either.

“Fun, probably,” Kylo remarked, “do you seriously live here?”

“Yes, why?” Hux was ready to get offended. 

“For one, it’s appalling,” Kylo said, “but more importantly it’s – I don’t know how else to put it – so straight. And you’re neither.”

“It’s not–“ Hux began, puffed up, turned red. There was way too much going on in that sentence. “It’s expensive and it shows status. People get jealous when they hear you live here. Those are the marks of a good address.”

“That’s just so sad,” Kylo insisted, “where’s the fun? Where are the quirky bars? The cinema? The wall that’s covered in a new graffiti every week? The homeless man complimenting your shoes?”

“It seems like we have vastly differing opinions on what constitutes a good place to live,” Hux replied. They’d reached the front door of Hux’s building, so he began looking for his keys in his bag. He could see, in the corner of his eye, that Kylo walked out of his way over the perfectly trimmed lawn lining the sidewalk. 

“I don’t want to get all psychoanalytical with you, all things considered,” Kylo said as he leant against the wall, “but you should probably talk to some professional about why you choose to live like this.”

Hux finally found the keys and opened the door. He went in first, waiting for Kylo to follow. 

“You’ve known me for four hours, I don’t think you’re qualified to make judgement of what I should or shouldn’t do,” he told Kylo as he checked his mailbox. There was a stack of ads, despite his  _ I don’t want ads  _ sticker, and a letter from a bank. He put the ads into the box in the corner of the hall – someone’s child brought it to a school competition or something – and stuck the letter into his bag.

“I have to be a higher level friend to access your sad backstory, got it,” Kylo nodded. 

“Yeah, that’s how relationships usually work,” Hux said. He pressed the button for the elevator. Kylo waited a little too close to him, still not touching but impatient. 

The elevator ride was awkward. Hux thought, completely against his will, about all the movie scenes with people stopping the elevator between floors and having sex there or, for some reason, getting stuck in an elevator and someone going into labour. None of that happened; Hux let out a relieved exhale when the door opened again. 

There were two doors on the floor, Hux’s was on the left. Kylo watched Hux unlock it so intently it made Hux feel almost nervous, like they were breaking into someone else’s flat together. Finally the door opened. Hux suddenly felt reluctant about letting Kylo inside. 

“Come in,” he said anyway. Kylo probably wouldn’t mind if he had left a mug on the table – he seemed like the kind of person to pile up dirty dishes in the sink and only take them from the heap when he needed them again. 

Kylo didn’t stare around him. He immediately followed Hux’s example and took off his flimsy sandals. There were thin white lines crisscrossing his feet where just a while ago there were colourful strings. Hux put his shoes away and continued into the flat. 

“Wow,” Kylo said upon entering the living room. Hux had had a similar reaction when he first saw it a couple years ago, but he had had enough self-restraint to stop himself from saying it out loud.

“Still don’t understand the appeal?” he asked. Kylo walked past him to the giant window on the other side. It had a perfect view – thanks to its size, it accommodated both the highlights of the city’s landscape and the nearby hillocks giving rise to mountains in the distance. The sky was clear that day, helping Hux show off all the perks of his living. About half of the horrendous price of the flat was for the view, and rightfully so. 

Hux hoped he would get Kylo to stand naked in front of the window. 

“I’m wondering if we hadn’t broken into some rich family’s apartment who’s supposed to be on a holiday but will come back home unexpectedly and set their dobermans loose on us,” Kylo replied. 

“You watch too much TV,” Hux shook his head, “would you like some wine?”

“Uh yeah, sure.”

“Red or white?” 

“Whatever you want, I don’t really care,” Kylo said. He looked back at Hux now and it seemed like he was desperately trying not to stare at the rest of the room, like he was too polite to look at something Hux hadn’t explicitly shown him. 

“You’re the guest,” Hux threw the hot potato back at him. 

“Red, then,” Kylo shrugged.

“Alright.”

“Do you have a wine cellar?” Kylo asked, “This place looks like it should have a wine cellar. And a golf course. Maybe a stable.”

“I’ve never played golf and I’m probably allergic to horses,” Hux replied, “and I only have a regular cellar, though I do have some wine in there.”

He went behind the kitchen counter. Kylo tore himself from the window. Hux felt a surge of pride that he was apparently more interesting than the view.

“I’d say if there’s wine there, it’s a wine cellar,” Kylo pointed out, leaning on the counter from the other side, “cellars are for bikes and canoes and bottles of jam.”

“It’s underground and you store things there, it’s a cellar,” Hux argued while he chose a bottle from the stand on his counter. A nice one but not too heavy, something likeable, suitable for beginners. Kylo didn’t seem to be very picky about his wine. “You don’t say bike cellar or jam cellar.”

“Because those are normal things to store in a cellar.”

“I’ve never had a canoe and the last bike I owned had four wheels,” Hux said. He felt very conscious of Kylo’s eyes on him as he pushed the corkscrew in. 

“That’s just sad.”

Hux managed to open the bottle without any accidents, so he turned to get glasses. He poured them both a generous amount of the wine and handed one glass to Kylo. They clinked their glasses and Hux took his time as Kylo smelled the wine and then tasted it. 

“Did you put something in and are waiting for me to pick up on that or something?” Kylo asked.

“You’ve practically undressed me with your eyes when I opened the bottle,” Hux protested.

“And yet you’re still dressed,” Kylo said.

“I was trying to be hospitable and offer you refreshments before…” Hux trailed off. 

“Before what?” Kylo smiled. Hux could see the tip of his tongue between the two rows of slightly crooked teeth. 

Hux smiled in response and leaned forward over the counter; Kylo met him halfway.

Hux had kissed several people in his life and only really enjoyed a couple of those encounters. Kissing Kylo felt good – their mouths moved smoothly together and Kylo’s tongue was firm and deft. Hux leaned further into the kiss, threatening to knock his glass over. He pulled away.

“Are you keeping me away on purpose?” Kylo asked. 

“Oh god no,” Hux whispered. It sounded desperate. Thankfully, he was too desperate to care. 

Kylo grinned. He was on Hux in a second, pushing his back against the counter. He was all hands and mouth; Hux could barely keep up with him. Kylo was a force of nature, kissing him like his life depended on it while Hux was still remembering how mouths worked. His body caught quickly onto Kylo’s wave, moving without Hux’s intention. His thoughts faded away one by one until his mind was completely blank and a small fire started in his belly. He wrapped one arm around Kylo’s neck, the other around his middle and pulled him as close as he could, rolling his hips against Kylo’s. Kylo was slightly taller than him, just an inch or two, but it was still a very unusual feeling. Hux enjoyed it immensely. 

Kylo tried to pull Hux’s shirt over his head but it got stuck on his chin. Hux chuckled, Kylo muttered something and rolled it back down to undo another button. Finally they discarded the shirt onto the floor and Kylo’s tank top followed immediately. Hux stopped Kylo a few inches away from himself to enjoy the view. 

“You’re gorgeous,” Hux breathed out. He ran a hand down the length of Kylo’s sternum.

“Thank you, it was a lot of effort,” Kylo replied.

“Show off.” 

“I’m the show off?” Kylo laughed, “In this apartment?”

Hux didn’t know what to say to that, so he kissed Kylo again. 

***

Kylo was woken up by soft rays of sun on his skin. He stretched his arms and smiled, his eyes still closed. His body was slightly sore from the exertion of the night, a pleasant ache to remind him of the pleasure. He opened his eyes at last, and saw that he was alone. He sat up, rubbed his eyes and touched Hux’s side of the bed: it was still warm, he couldn’t have been gone long. Kylo didn’t have any way of telling the time – summer was always so confusing in this. You woke up at six feeling like it was noon already, and vice versa. Kylo didn’t think Hux would leave for work without waking him first, so he must still be home. Maybe he’d just gone to the bathroom. 

Kylo got up to get a glass of water and look for him. Maybe it was early enough for a quickie. Or at least for a passionate make out session. 

There were bits of clothing scattered over the living room. Kylo could see Hux’s dark blue lacy panties, though Hux had insisted he had bought it in a men’s section of the shop and it had some fancy name which sounded vaguely French. Kylo hated French, so he couldn’t be sure. Maybe it was French for panties. 

Kylo was collecting his clothes when he heard Hux’s voice. Smile spread across his face for a second, before he realised Hux wasn’t talking to him.

“–there at twelve, I promise.”

“I will, don’t worry. It will be okay. I’ll see you as soon as I can.”

“Yeah, I promise, last night was an exception, I’m sorry.”

“Just call me if you need anything, alright? I love you. Take care.”

Blood rushed into Kylo’s face. His hands shook in anger as he started pulling his clothes on in a hurry, not caring if he put them on backwards. He just needed to get away, to leave before Hux sees him. He wasn’t interested in a scene – he didn’t care for Hux’s excuses or explanations. He should have known Hux was too good to be true, that there had to have been some sort of catch. Kylo had just hoped that Hux would have bad bathroom routine or some annoying habit, not that he’d call his – what? Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Spouse? – when Kylo was still in the flat, supposedly sleeping off a sex marathon. That was so pathetic Kylo felt disgusting for having found someone like that attractive. 

He grabbed his shoes and tried to open the door. He could hear Hux move somewhere in the flat. The door was locked, the keys hanging from it. He turned the key and left the flat, giving the hall one last glance to make sure he hadn’t left anything behind. He ran the stairs down with his shoes still in his hand, nearly knocking down a middle aged woman on the fourth floor. She looked at him in horror, as if she could see exactly what he and Hux had done last night in his eyes. His hair must have been a mess and his clothes definitely didn’t hide the fact that this was a walk of shame. He mumbled a sorry to her and dashed past her, his left ankle cracking like it always did in the morning. 

It was crisp outside, the sun hadn’t quite warmed up yet for the day. He sat down on the stairs leading to the front door and put his sandals on. His phone said it was just past six. He yawned. 

He ran all the way to the subway station. People shied away from him on the platform as if he smelled bad, which he maybe did. He was glad for it. He was vibrating with rage and very much on the edge of exploding. Infidelity was the one thing he absolutely couldn’t stand. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t the cheated one – someone who cheated once would cheat again, as Kylo knew perfectly well from personal experience. 

How could he be so stupid, again? Was he doomed to keep falling for people who couldn’t keep it in their pants around someone they found hot? Hux had seemed so perfect. Kylo felt like crying or hitting something. 

The train arrived and he made his way inside, collapsing on the seat just by the door. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes to keep reality from setting on him. 

***

It was an unusually cold day. Kylo hadn’t looked at the weather forecast in the morning, or even opened a window, and he was seriously underdressed. The sky was one big block of dull, steely grey and seemed like it would look just like that forever, despite the cold wind tugging at Kylo’s hair. Everything was absolutely miserable, and very fitting for his mood.

It had been two weeks (and two days, eight hours) since Kylo had stormed out of Hux’s apartment, and the further in the past it was, the more torn he was about it. He found himself wandering around the place they had met and once he changed his running route just to accommodate Hux’s neighbourhood. He wasn’t entirely sure why he did it or what he hoped to achieve, but that made very little difference. Kylo wasn’t one to think through all the outcomes his actions could have before taking them, for better or worse. 

He was waiting for the subway, stepping quickly from one foot onto the other in a pitiful attempt to warm himself up, his head stuck as low between his shoulders as possible, hands deep in the pockets of his shorts. There was a girl waiting beside him wearing a jacket with a scarf, and sure, Kylo may be underdressed, but it wasn’t that cold,  _ come on.  _ The approaching train pushed the cold air in front of it and Kylo’s hair fluttered around his head and his skin protested with goosebumps. Finally its door opened with several people hurrying out. Kylo made his way inside; it wasn’t much warmer there but at least there was no wind. He raised his head to look for a place to stand out of the way. The car was rather crowded, full of people coming home from work. Kylo looked to his left and his heart skipped a beat. 

There he was. 

Ginger hair gelled back to his scalp, messenger bag weighing down one shoulder despite his best efforts to maintain a good posture, an expensive scarf arranged so neatly around his long neck you would think he was a model posing for a photo. 

Grey-green eyes widening with surprise when they looked directly into Kylo’s own.

Hux.

Kylo’s first instinct was to flee. He had, after all, run away from Hux’s flat without a word of goodbye, which he shouldn’t have done even if he felt he had the moral ground to do so. He should have stayed and explained himself – that way he would have maintained his integrity. But fleeing was out of the question now. He wasn’t that much of a coward to turn and walk away now when he knew Hux had already seen him. That left him with–

“Kylo,” Hux said.

“Hux,” he nodded. He wanted to make it sound dismissive but he didn’t quite manage. Hux’s face was impossible to read. Neither of them spoke for a long time. The train stopped, people got out and in, the chime of the door closing startled Kylo. 

“I think I owe you an explanation,” Kylo said at last, the words sticking to his tongue like cotton-candy. 

“You think?” Hux sneered. His pretty face twisted into a grimace. Kylo had never seen someone look so disgusted before. His frustration bubbled up from him like water from a too small pot. All the confusion, the hurt, the betrayal he had been bottling up for the past sixteen days exploded all at once.

“You’re a cheater!” Kylo spat out. “And you don’t even have the decency to wait until I’ve left your bed to call your – what? Wife? Is that it? Was I an experiment to spice up your boring marital life? Or does your fancy apartment come with a built-in wife but you just can’t get it up for her–”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Hux cut him off. People were turning their heads towards them – again. Hux managed to actually look confused. 

“I heard you talk to someone. On the phone,” Kylo explained. The overdressed girl from the platform was intently staring away from him, as if afraid he would turn his anger towards her when he’s done with Hux.

“I don’t have a wife,” Hux said, “I don’t know what you think you heard, but it wasn’t that.”

“‘Last night was an exception, I promise! I love you.’” Kylo tried mimicking Hux’s accent but he was never very good at that. “Does that ring a bell?”

“I was talking to my sister! God! Our mother’s ill and she’s taking care of her. I’m supposed to be on call in case there’s an emergency, and there was an emergency and I didn’t respond, because I was with you.” 

“What?” Kylo’s mind went blank. 

“I would have explained that to you, if you bothered to trust me just a little bit and asked, like a normal person,” Hux said, “I can’t believe I let you into my home. You’re a psychopath.”

Kylo’s mouth was slightly open from when he had drawn breath to keep shouting, but there was no little energy in him. Hux’s answer pushed the air out of his lungs.

“I’m such an idiot,” he mumbled at last.

“That you are. Now excuse me, this is my stop.” Hux pushed past him to the door. The train stopped and the door opened. Hux disappeared in the crowd on the platform. Kylo stared after him, frozen in shock for a second, before darting out of the train as well. The door nearly caught him but he wrestled himself free.

He only caught up with Hux because he knew the way – the station was so crowded that he actually lost sight of Hux for a good while. Once on the street with less spectators, Kylo hurried to catch Hux. It wasn’t particularly difficult – Hux didn’t make it particularly difficult, which gave Kylo some hope. Kylo called his name before falling into step with him, as a courtesy, to let Hux know he was there. They walked side by side, silent. Kylo didn’t know what to say, and Hux didn’t either, or he had already said everything he wanted to and was now waiting for Kylo to do his bit. Probably the latter.

“God I’m so stupid,” Kylo mumbled at last, the silence driving him crazy. 

“There’s no need to self-flagellate so much. It gets rather stale,” Hux said, “and it won’t help anything.”

“What will help?” Kylo asked. They were nearly in Hux’s street.

“Shutting up and listening might be a good starting point,” Hux said, “and a blowjob couldn’t do any harm.”

Kylo stole a look at him. Hux was smiling slightly.

“I’m not sure about the first thing,” Kylo said, “but I can definitely do the latter.”

“We’ll find a way for you to do the first,” Hux remarked.

“Ooh, kinky, I like that,” Kylo exclaimed. Hux raised an eyebrow.

“You didn’t mention that.”

“There kind of wasn’t time to discuss the specifics, was there? We just sort of… dove right in.”

“Maybe this time we could actually drink the wine?” Hux suggested. They’d reached his building now and stood in front of the door. 

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, okay?” Kylo chuckled, “I can’t promise anything.”

“Not even to stay in the morning and ask me to tell you who I’m talking to if you feel like I’m cheating on you?”

“I’ll try,” Kylo replied, “no promises though.”

“You’re impossible,” Hux rolled his eyes. 

“Impossible to forget?” Kylo chuckled. A mother with two children was leaving Hux’s building. Kylo leaned forward and kissed Hux, open-mouth, tongue and all. The mother walked past them so fast you’d think they had some ugly infectious disease, dragging her kids behind. Kylo pulled away with a grin.

“Yes, that too,” Hux said, his cheeks tinted deep pink. 

“Good.”

Hux unlocked the front door and held it open.

“Come in.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I'm on [twitter](https://twitter.com/EllstraH) and [tumblr](https://ellstra.tumblr.com/) too!


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